Gamer Too
by RockSunner
Summary: What if Gamer hadn't fallen for Ladybug's trick? Spoilers for the episode "Gamer 2.0". Warning: very dark, with character deaths. One-shot.


What if Gamer didn't fall for Ladybug's trick?

**Gamer Too**

Gamer saw Ladybug fall to the ground and roll. She should have disappeared, leaving him with the victory (and both Miraculous to give to Hawk Moth).

"Victory! You left the field, Ladybug!" called Gamer.

Ladybug sat up, felt herself, and felt the ground.

"I can't believe it! Your game has a huge bug, Gamer!" Ladybug said with a wild laugh.

"No, I would have caught it!" said Gamer.

"Even the best game in the world can have bugs," said Ladybug.

Gamer flew close in the form of Reverser on his huge paper airplane.

Something was bothering Gamer in the back of his physics-calculating mind. A fall from that height should have had more momentum and caused a 45% longer roll when Ladybug landed.

Just to be sure, he threw one of Reverser's paper airplanes at Ladybug. The image vanished in streamers of color.

"An illusion!" said Gamer.

There was a rushing noise behind him. He turned and saw Ladybug charging him on her Sandboy pillow. There was no time to change forms. Hastily, he threw a paper airplane at her.

"Change sides!" Gamer shouted. "Reversion!"

The range was so close that Gamer couldn't miss. Ladybug's face became a mask of fury as she collided with him and drove him to the ground. He landed first with her on top of him.

"Eliminated!" came the voice of the announcer. "Ladybug is victorious."

Gamer transformed back to his masked self and the giant paper airplane vanished.

Ladybug continued to hold him down.

Ladybug said, "I was on the side of good. Now I'm on the side of evil."

"So you'll work with Hawkmoth?" asked Gamer.

"It's not about being for or against Hawk Moth. I'm for myself. I want the power of the one of the character you left out of the game," said Ladybug. "Animaestro."

"He's way overpowered, except for the one weakness of having to be seen to move," said Gamer. "This game is being broadcast – his combat round would have been no fun at all."

"If I surrender my Miraculous to Hawk Moth I want a power I can enjoy in return. Otherwise I'll just escape and he'll never see the Ladybug or Cat Miraculous again."

"I see that being evil makes you selfish," said Gamer. "All right, granted."

Ladybug became Animaestro as he first appeared, looking like the director Thomas Astruc, with a sketchy, scribbled body.

* * *

Animaestro shifted into a giant dragon and snatched up Gamer, She broke through the wall of the black pyramid over the stadium with ease.

"My power is only limited by my imagination," said Animaestro. "I'm using it to sense where Hawk Moth is."

* * *

The Animaestro-Dragon smashed into the side of Gabriel Agreste's mansion. She kept a large tail waving outside to keep the attention of people passing by.

Hawk Moth and Mayura were standing side by side in the lair.

"Give me the two Miraculous," Hawk Moth said.

"As you promised," said Mayura.

"I didn't promise," said Animaestro. "And I had it would have been a lie. I'm evil."

"I'll pull the Gamer's power," said Hawk Moth.

Gamer became Max again, but Animaestro didn't change back.

Animaestro said, "Transforming people counts as akuma damage, and it only gets reversed if I cast a healing charm... which I won't."

Turning into a giant rabbit cartoon character, Animaestro cast a large portable hole at Hawk Moth's feet, swallowing up both him and Mayura.

* * *

She leaped back out onto the street, still holding Max.

"C-congratulations. You beat Hawk Moth," said Max. "Are you going to bring everyone back now?"

"I don't see why I should," said Animaestro, turning into a dark cartoon version of Ladybug.

"All those people, all of my classmates," said Max. "You're just going to leave them all gone forever?"

"That would be the evil thing to do," said Ladybug. "You're the only one left other than Adrien. I think I'll take over the world and make you my consort. I'll take Adrien too, if I can find him."

"The other heroes will find a way to stop you," said Max.

"Not Rena Rouge, Carapace, or Queen Bee. I happen to know that all of them had akuma forms in the game. Chat Noir was eliminated too... But I'd better deal with Master Fu and take all the Miraculous jewelry in his box before he gives them out to other people, just in case."

* * *

The reign of Dark Animaestro Ladybug lasted almost a decade. She was finally vanquished when the alien Eclipt invaders used a super-weapon to encase her in a bubble of darkness so that she couldn't be seen, which stopped her from moving.

After years of her terrible rule, the people of Earth welcomed their new alien overlords.


End file.
